Man biking through U.S. to raise awareness for suicide prevention

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A Navy veteran is biking his way across America to try to change the stigma of depression.

After a third suicide attempts, Daniel Hurd turned to biking to help manage his PTSD and depression and improve his mental health. He’s now biking one pedal at a time, encouraging people to be more comfortable talking about depression. We caught up with him in the middle of his journey at a cafe in Port Allen. Hurd says the first time he knew he was making a difference was when he came across a woman walking alone on a bridge.

“So I stopped and talked to her for about two minutes, gave her my card, and went on my way, didn’t think much about it. She immediately messaged me that night, saying what I was doing was awesome. I saved her life because she was planning on jumping off that bridge that day," Hurd said.

Hurd says dozens of people have reached out to him thanking him for sharing his story because it stopped them from taking their own life. He has biked more than 1,800 miles and traveled to 21 states on his journey. He says he wants to bike to all 50 states in three years, but his main goal is to connect with people.

Hurd says he has stopped 49 people from taking their lives by sharing his story and his cause.